Advancement of science lives on

The British Association for the Advancement of Science may be a thing of the past, they changed the name to British Science Association, but the advancement word lives on. This is thanks to the Royal Society, which has just set up a new centre for the advancement of science.

The RS has bought Chicheley Hall, a country pile, sorry, "historic stately home," where "scientists from all over the UK and the world will be able to meet to discuss and develop their work". The RS's new pad is two miles east of Newport Pagnell, not far from idyllic Milton Keynes.

Unless the RS decides to get into the business, the place will lose its role in the weddings market, but it will reclaim its status as a place where more important things happen. Wikipedia tells us that during the Second World War the Special Operations Executive used the place as its Special Training School No. 46. (More recently, it also stood in for Bletchley Park in a TV programme.)

The money for the new venture comes from the Kavli Foundation, those nice people who are funding the AAAS's awards for science writers. The foundation will also use Chicheley Hall as its European home.

The place cost £6.5 million, knocked down from an asking price of £9 million in 2007, and will open in 2010, the 350th Anniversary of the Royal Society.

Media fellows report back

The British Science Association, formerly the "BA," has reports from last year's wave of media fellows on its web site. The 10 fellows worked all over the media, radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. They have all filed accounts of their gruelling times.

Emma Byrne spent some time on The Financial Times, working with Clive Cookson. Emma's account shows that the scheme is good at waking scientists up to the facts of media life. She writes in her account:

"During my placement I saw a few examples of communication between the media and scientists breaking down. Most of the time this was due to the scientists not understanding the constraints under which the media operate and expecting the nuances and complexities of their work to be conveyed in a 300 word newspaper article or 30 second radio slot. This would have been exactly the type of mistake I would have made before the placement."

So that's one scientist gone back to the lab with a better view of how we work. Let's hope the message gets back to her colleagues.

Applications are now open for this year's fellowships. There are full details on the BSA's shiny new web site.